


Her Name Was Rose

by Frin



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, F/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-19
Updated: 2014-04-04
Packaged: 2018-01-16 08:50:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 17,632
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1339399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frin/pseuds/Frin
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>Five years on in their new world, and tragedy strikes.</i>
</p><p>
  <i>First Published: 2008.09.16</i>
</p><p>
  <i>At the end of the end it's a start of a journey to a much better place. And a much better place would have to be special. No reason to cry, no need to be sad. At the end of the end... Paul McCartney</i>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

She was waiting for him at home when she got the call.

She answered the phone brightly, with a slight husk, smiling because she thought it was him telling her he was delayed again.

Her face dropped and her skin paled. "How is he? I'm on my way!" Quickly she grabbed her coat and slung on her shoes.

She moved the car deftly in and out of the rush hour traffic. She didn't care about the cameras.

She pulled in outside the hospital. A team member was there to take her car. She saw his face and she knew, she just knew.

She ran even though her feet were heavy, like lead.

Her Dad stood in the corridor of casualty, tears tramming down his face.

"Rose..." he shook his head.

"No!" she heard herself shout. "No! No! No!" She passed out.

__________________________________________________________________

The Doctor was in the TARDIS. He had just dropped off another failure. Not her, just the... arrangement. It had got... complicated and he couldn't do that any more. Not since... well... since everything.

He had coped with Martha. She was bright and recognised the rules. Then Donna... well, she was like a sister. If he could have continued to travel with her that would have been perfect. Well, nearly perfect. Perfect would have been Rose... that's why he didn't want complicated.

Perhaps he should just... go it alone, or find a male companion? But, look at what had happened with Jack? No. Alone was a good idea. Him and the TARDIS.

Suddenly, the Cloister bells started to ring and he fell to his knees, pain ripping through him.

It felt like his body was being torn apart. He screamed, writhing in agony and was vaguely aware of the TARDIS setting off on a destination he hadn't set. He passed out.

____________________________________________________

 

"Rose?" She heard a familiar voice. "Wake up, sweetheart, it's your Mum, come on darling, wake up." She opened her eyes wide. Jackie looked into her face, her eyes were red and her face was grey.

"I want to see him!"

"Not yet, sweetheart, you were out cold..."

"I have to see him!" she shouted, sitting up and getting off the examination bed.

She was allowed to go and see him in the morgue. She was under instruction that she could not, should not, lift the sheet His body was a mess.

"I want to be alone with him," she said numbly.

The door shut behind her and she moved over to the still corpse lying on the slab. A sheet covered his tattered body, but there was his face. His perfect, beautiful, lifeless face.

A tear escaped her and she pulled in a rasping breath. She bent down and pressed her lips to his cold ones.

"I... I love you," she whispered and then the sobbing started. She placed her arms around him and pulled him to her. Disregarding the exposed open wounds, she started to rock his damaged body crying great racking sobs. "Regenerate!" she willed, shaking him, "please try, don't leave me! Regenerate!" she screamed. She cried and cried unable to let go.

Vaguely she became aware of gentle hands leading her away. Her sleeve was pulled up, a jab in her arm, then blackness.

________________________________________________

 

The Doctor came to on the console room floor. Everything was in half darkness. All power seemed to be out. He ached all over. He got to his feet and moved slowly to the console. He tried a few switches. Nothing. 

He moved down the ramp, cautiously opened the doors and looked outside.

The first thing he saw was a night sky full of Zeppelins. Now he knew where he was. He didn't know why.

He moved down the street slowly, his body was still aching. He went into a newsagents and picked up a newspaper. 2013. Five years on. He scanned the rest of the paper, looking for clues.

"If you want to read it, you have to pay for it!" said the shopkeeper. The Doctor dug into his coat pockets,

"Sorry, I seem to have run out of change," he smiled and popped the paper back.

"Can you tell me, what town am I in?"

"What? You're in London! You weirdo!" was the blunt reply. 

He left the shop and started to walk back towards the TARDIS. But it wasn't there. He looked all about him clutching the back of his neck.

A car pulled up beside him and two heavy set men got out.

"Doctor?"

"Yes that's me..." They grabbed him and bundled him into the car. The car took off at speed.

___________________________________________________

 

Rose was at Torchwood. It was the first time she had been since... since her life had been ripped apart. She didn't even know why she was there. She had been drawn to it.

She could see people nudging and staring. She knew what they would be saying.

"Only buried him two weeks ago and she's already back!" But it wasn't that.

She got into the empty lift and before she had a chance to press any buttons it started to descend to the basements. She pressed more buttons but nothing happened.

Lower basement. The doors slid open. She stepped out.

"Hello?" she called out tentatively. No answer. She turned towards his office and stopped dead in her tracks.

There in front of her stood the TARDIS. Well, it looked like the TARDIS. It wasn't lit up like normal but it could only be... She moved towards it, then stopped and backed away, anger bubbling up inside her.

She returned to the lift and left upwards. She stormed into Pete's office. He was on the phone and looked up as she burst in.

"I'll get back to you," he said clicking the phone down quickly. "Rose, what are you doing here?" he sighed.

"You know what!"

"You've been downstairs?"

"Is he here?"

"No." Pete shook his head sadly.

"Where is he then?"

"We don't know. We just found the TARDIS and we're not getting any readings from it. Can't get in, but we think it's dead."

"Why didn't you tell me?" She leaned over the desk.

"You've enough on your plate right now."

"How long has it been here?"

"It was spotted the night... the night he died."

"Three weeks? Where is he then?"

"We're searching everywhere, but we've come up with nothing, except this." He turned his monitor around and showed her some footage of the Doctor in a newsagent.

Emotions rose like bile in her throat. That man, that selfish, man who wore her dead husband's face was back!

"We're doing everything we can to locate him and I will let you know when, and if; we find him. You should go home, Rose, it's too soon for you to be here."

"I didn't come to work."

"Why did you come then?"

"I don't know, something drew me here. It was strange. I was going to come and see you. The lift just automatically took me down."

"What does that mean?" Pete looked a bit uncomfortable.

"I don't know, but something doesn't feel right."

"Go home. Rose, we're doing our best, if we find him... do you want to see him?"

"No... I... I don't know."

"Well, we'll think about it at the time." Rose left his office with a feeling of terrible unease. She drove past the house that she had just bought with her husband and knew she would never set foot in again, and headed for the Tyler Mansion.

Jackie was there to meet her. She was so concerned for her. She had lost her husband, the love of her life, when she was young. She had had to keep going because of Rose. What would she have done if she hadn't her?

"Why don't you come and have some food with me and Tony, sweetheart?" she coaxed.

"I can't, Mum, I'm just so tired. I'll see you later..." She escaped to the place where she now spent most of her time. Her bed.

When she got to her room she stopped. It hadn't changed in the eight years she had lived in this universe.

A picture came into her head of herself five years ago, standing in front of a tall handsome man in a blue suit.

_"Unless you don't want too..." she said smiling with her tongue tickling her teeth._

_"Oh, I want..." he growled back, pulling her towards him._

She wiped a tear from her face. She had been so blissfully happy with him. A fantastic life for the five years they had had together.

He had been her everything.

He hadn't even been working on the field when it happened. He was just on pick up. Why had he gone and touched it without safety precautions? He must have known what it was.

She moved over to her chest of drawers and started to rummage through it. Then her eyes fixed on the wooden jewellery box. She flipped it open and picked up the key. It wasn't much but she felt the heat on the palm of her hand.

She slung it over her head and tucked it inside her top. She could feel it's warmth pressing against her.

She was overcome with exhaustion. She lay on the bed and closed her eyes. Memories flooded in.

_"How about Jack?" she said curling her fingers in and out of his as they lay in this very bed._

_"Well, it's a good name, he was... is... a good man... yes... I think Jack could definitely be in the running." He smiled down at her as she lay on the pink pillow._

_"If it's a girl though I think I'd rather Donna, I know it isn't a very original name but it means so much more to me than Martha..." she said and he leant down and kissed her._

_"Well, that's settled then, when we get pregnant we'll be expecting Jack or Donna, or both if we're lucky..." She pulled him down to her._

_"Best keep practising then..." she husked._

Rose felt her eyes stinging again. That had only been a month ago. They were so hopeful. He was so happy. Not once had he complained about the TARDIS, or lack of, rather. Now he was dead.

_"If I do happen to be reckless you must tell me. I'll forget, you know. I need someone like you to rein me in, remind me I've only got the one life. I want to grow old with you. Discover lines and grey hairs and get a little pot belly... and great big ears!"_

_"I'd say you're well on your way in that department!"_

_"You cheeky mare! Come here and say that!"_ And she had, always.

She drifted into sleep.

_"Rose..."_ A hushed voice.

_"Rose..."_ A whisper on the wind.

_"Rose..."_ She sat bolt upright. It was dark. She got up and quickly dressed in her black field uniform. Quietly, she left the house and drove back to town.

The security guard was surprised to see her but didn't question her. Torchwood was open all hours. 

There was no one in the lower basement as she walked up to the TARDIS doors and stroked them. She pulled out her key and slipped it inside the lock, then turned it and went inside shutting the door behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _I thought I'd be all right today. I thought I'd be alive today. Give me your eyes, I'll show you things you never dreamed you thought you'd see... Toad the Wet Sprocket_

It was in darkness. She moved around it stroking the corals, memories flooding her head. She knew that there must be life in her because the key was warm.

"You have to help," she said aloud, "if he's in trouble I... I can't do it on my own." She felt something deep inside, a familiar rumbling that vibrated through her.

"Show me..." Violently, she was pulled down to her knees. She felt pain surge through every part of her. She was seeing through different eyes. Her hands were chained and she was stripped to the waist, but it wasn't her body she was looking down on.

She raised her eyes trying to focus through the pain. It looked like she was chained up in some kind of cell. She could make out white brick tiles on the walls. It felt like she was underground.

Just as suddenly she felt a searing pain as she was dragged out of the vision.

She came to on on the TARDIS floor. She pulled her phone out of her pocket and hit he button for her superior, her only superior. Pete.

"Yeah?"

"It's me... I'm in the TARDIS."

"Rose, it's three o'clock in the morning!"

"He's in trouble. We have to help!"

"I'm on my way."

While she was waiting she wandered around the semi-darkness of the place that had been her home for two wonderful years. No. She wasn't going down that path. Choices had been made five years ago and they were the right ones.

She found her room and pushed the door open. Nothing had changed. Scruffy unmade bed she had got out of that morning to go and see her Mum. That day the ghosts came. Clothes strewn about untidily. Even her make up was still spilling out of it's bag on the dressing table.

She moved down the corridor and noticed a door she did'`t recognise. She pushed it open and walked in. At first glance it was a pile of boxes, but on closer inspection she read the neat writing on each one.

"Jackie's room" and "living room" and "Rose's room". She opened it up and got a whiff of the old cheap perfume she used to wear. This was everything of her old life all packed carefully into this space. Her eyes stung.

She wandered up the corridor a little further and found his room. She pushed the door open and gasped. All over the walls there were pictures of her. Photograph's that had been in their old flat. Some from albums and some that had been framed and hung. He had claimed them and hung them in his most personal space.

She wandered around looking deep into the eyes of the girl she once was, trying to see her through his eyes. Her eyes lit upon one she didn't remember. It was one of them together cuddling and looking into Jackie's camera. They looked so young and happy and alive.

No, this wouldn't do. She must pull herself together. There was a job to be done. She opened some drawers searching for something. No joy. She wandered back to the console room racking her brain. Where would he put something like that? 

She peered underneath the grating below the console where he was always fiddling about. She climbed down underneath it. 

What a mess. Wires and tools hung or lay in disarray. She must be careful not to disturb. She scanned about looking. He did have spares, she knew he did. Then her eyes lit upon a blue tip poking out from under a pile of papers covered in his familiar scribbles.

She leaned over and pulled the Sonic Screwdriver out and smiled. Bingo. Now how to use it? She remembered some settings from long ago. That sort of thing stuck.

Her thoughts were disturbed by a tap on the front door. She quickly walked down the ramp and opened the doors. Pete stepped inside staring about him in awe.

"He's trying to connect with me telepathically. He managed to wake me and bring me here. Then he sort of changed places with me... I was him. It was some kind of link with the TARDIS."

"Rose, the TARDIS is dead." She pulled out her key and placed it on the palm of his hand. He gazed down at it in wonder. In the half light you could see it glowing.

"But, what can we do?" he asked her.

"I'm going to try and link with him again. Whatever you do don't wake me, okay? I will be different. More him than me. There's a pad and pen. Just write down everything."

"Rose... this is dangerous."

"I know, but we have to... something's going on... I can't explain... but I have to help him." Pete looked at her desperate face. How could he deny her? He nodded.

"Remember, don't disturb me, just write it down, okay?" He nodded again.

She stood up and stroked one of the coral struts. Pete felt it. A sort of rumble deep inside.

"Show me..." she whispered. Pete watched as Rose slumped against one of the railings. Her eyes sagged and her mouth dropped open. Her breathing was shallow and rasping as if in pain. Her eyes swivelled around the room and then focused on Pete.

"Pete?" she said but it wasn't her voice, it was his.

"Yes..." he answered quietly.

"What's going on?"

"We're trying to help you, where are you?"

"I dunno... some place below ground... got paper?" Pete handed over the pad and pen. Quickly, and with skill, Rose's hand moved, sketching a picture of his surroundings. Just as she was finishing he stopped.

"He's coming! Oh God! I can't take any more! They're going to kill me... Pete you have to..." She screamed and collapsed into Pete's arms.

"Rose! Rose!" Pete shook her gently. Her eyes opened groggily.

"What happened?" Pete showed her the sketch. 

"That's what I saw when I was him! That's where he is! Do you know it? It's some sort of cell."

"It looks familiar..."

"Think for Christ's sake! He's dying..."

"It's Torchwood Rose, it's the vaults at Torchwood Three in Cardiff."

"We've got to get there fast!"

"I think the best we can do is an hour."

"No, we have to get there faster, isn't there anything here?"

"No, Rose, everything was destroyed under the Doctor's orders. We know the dangers now."

"But this would just be travelling within this universe, in the same time zone! That wouldn't damage anything!" She stormed around the console and he couldn't help feeling she was having some kind of breakdown. But it wasn't in her imagination, they were standing in the TARDIS!

"Jesus! I'm standing in the greatest time machine ever and it can't take us!" She started stroking the complicated controls on the console. There were prisms and balls made of different coloured glass. There were dials and knobs and levers. There was his rubber mallet.

"Please!" she said out loud and fiddled with some buttons. Nothing.

"This is an emergency!" Still nothing. She sat down on the floor with her back to the console. She couldn't help him. No more than she could have helped her husband. A tear rolled down her face. The TARDIS rumbled in sympathy.

"I know you're hurting, I know you need power. Didn't I once rip you open to take you back for him? He needs us and you need him. You have to help me."

A thin crack of yellow light appeared around the console. Rose jumped up as the heart of the TARDIS opened just slightly.

"Don't look!" she shouted at Pete. He covered his eyes as Rose stood before the heart and remembered. She remembered that she was the Bad Wolf. 

Her eyes lit up and she breathed out energy into the TARDIS itself. Giving something more back. The room lit up and the eye closed. Pete put his arm down. The TARDIS was awake. All around him it pulsed and vibrated. He looked at Rose. She seemed completely different. She smiled.

Suddenly she was flicking switches and tapping in numbers. The TARDIS groaned.

"Come on, old girl!" The centre valves started to pump. Rose ran round by Pete and tapped in some coordinates.

"That lever there, Pete, push it when I say!" She ran back round to the other side and pressed a button. A little hatch opened up on the surface. Below it was an indentation of a hand moulded into metal that looked like copper. Rose placed her hand on to it.

"I'm sorry, Doctor!" she shouted as the TARDIS read and scanned every inch of her copying her to it's memory as her pilot.

"Now Pete! Now!" He pushed the lever and the whale call of the TARDIS began.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _Remove the chains of darkness, let me see, Lord let me see; just where I fit in your master plan... Johnny Cash_

The whole place lurched and Pete steadied himself at the console. He glanced at Rose, she was concentrating hard. Her eyes were rimmed with rays of golden light and she was grinning madly, just like her late husband after a successful mission.

As quickly as it started, the TARDIS stopped abruptly and Rose was flung backwards violently.

"Rose! Rose!" shouted Pete running round to her. She sat up laughing hollowly.

"I'm fine! I never could get used to that!"

"I'm sorry..." Pete's face was etched with worry.

"Whatever for?" The TARDIS was silent again.

"It didn't work."

"Of course it worked!" She ran down the ramp and opened the door. Pete followed and peered outside. They were in Cardiff, above the hub of Torchwood Three.

"We moved..." he murmured in wonder.

"How do we get in?" Rose asked briskly, not wanting to dwell on the implications of what had just occurred.

"There's a lift over here. It has a perception filter on it. We're Torchwood, so we have automatic clearance... it should let us in..." They stood on the stone that led down to the hub and it started to descend.

"Who runs this one now?" asked Rose remembering that the previous supervisor had lost his life in action a few months ago.

"A man named Harold Saxon... I interviewed him myself, have you met him?" Rose shook her head.

"No, you were... away at the time..." she nodded, remembering that holiday they had had together. How they had embraced exploring the quiet caves and coves... it felt like years ago now.

"Where did he come from?"

"I don't really know... he was very persuasive, had a lot of knowledge and very commanding... just seemed to fit really..." Rose looked at Pete puzzled. Usually they put potential recruits through rigorous check ups. It seemed very weak to be saying he just fitted in.

"That sounds a bit dubious..."

"What?"

"Well... the checks? He just arrived in your office and said "give us a job" and you did? The Doctor has been captured and we have reason to believe he's here. Putting two and two together you have to conclude that this man is probably responsible. If he has held the Doctor in captivity for three weeks, then he is a very dangerous man."

"Should I get back up?"

"No! All we have is the element of surprise... it has to be just us." By now they were in the hollow atrium of the hub. All was silent.

"Do you know where the vaults are?" whispered Rose as they walked quietly into the office area. Their answer came in a low moan from across the room. They moved towards it and crouched down listening.

"Come on Doctor! I want you to tell me!"

"Not... while I... have breath... in my body..." He sounded weak.

"Well, that can be arranged... then you can regenerate and I can start all over! That'd be fun! Oh come on! No bloody Martha Jones here! No bloody rest of the world to rescue you! No one, just you and me..."

"Unchain me, then we'll have a fair fight!"

"Ha! You're a trier, I'll grant you that and it's tempting... but, you might get blood on my shirt and that wouldn't do!"

"I won't let you! You know what I told you!"

"Oh shut up! It's no fun when you get like this! Just tell me where it is and it'll all be over and you can join your precious TARDIS in the ever after. It's here I know it's here... I just can't quite..." 

There was silence for a moment and then a shriek of frustration followed by the sound of someone being punched repeatedly. The Doctor groaned.

"I will have my way, Doctor, you will bend for me. I will own all universes!"

"Never... the universes... will not... let you!" Frightened, Rose tapped into the Doctor's psyche.

"Get out, Rose!" the Doctor screamed inside her head. "Get out before he finds you... you will die, we will all die!"

"You asked for my help, Doctor... I'm here because you begged me..."

"Who's in there, then..." barged in another thought wave rudely. Rose pulled out.

"See Doctor, even in your head! So, the little blonde widow is on the way, is she? Ha! I love the irony of it! The love of your life, who you dump off with that human thing. Who I bump off! She's coming to rescue you? Actually... I've had a couple of glimpses... partial to a little blonde, I am. Wouldn't mind a go myself... before I dispose of her. How long before she could get here? That's assuming she's worked out where you are."

"You leave her alone!"

"Come, come! All's fair in love and war! Yes, I think I'll have to deflower the Rose!"

"You're sick! How did you get this job?"

"Oh, you know, used a bit of this and that, never actually met anyone but the big boss... wrapped him round my little finger. Humans! So stupid! Never actually got to meet your clone, nor the rest of the... er... family. Can't wait to, though!"

"He's keeping him talking," Rose whispered to the fuming man next to her, "I'm going in."

"No Rose, it's too dangerous... we wait until he withdraws... you know the Doctor's rules!" Rose looked at him sadly and nodded. They found a dark corner and listened to the severe beating that the Doctor was getting.

Rose tried to make the connection again but got nothing, so she assumed he must be unconscious. All had gone quiet. And then they heard someone climbing up the stairs from the vaults. He was humming to himself. He paced across the room and climbed some more stairs to the upper regions of the hub.

They heard a door click and his humming was dulled.

"Keep lookout!" she whispered, and without waiting for an answer she sprinted through the doors and descended into the vaults. It didn't take her long to find the cells. They were glass fronted. The Doctor lay in a bloody crumpled heap, his arms stretched high by the chains.

Quickly she hit the door release, pulled out the sonic screwdriver she had found and released him from the chains. He slumped completely to the floor.

"Doctor!" she hissed urgently, nudging him. "Doctor!" His eyes fluttered.

"Rose... is it really you?" he said weakly.

"Yes, we have to go now... I don't know when he's coming back!" His eyes widened, realising where they were.

"Rose, you have to get out, now! He's going to kill you! Get out!"

"Sshh... I'm going nowhere without you." She hoisted him up painfully onto her shoulder. He groaned.

"This is too risky..."

"He's not expecting me. We have to get out... you'll die if we don't."

"Doesn't matter... save yourself!" Rose shook her head and started to move him out of the cell.

Pete pulled out his gun keeping an eye on the door above, where Harold Saxon had gone.

He knew that Rose was in danger if he came back out and the only way to save her would be to shoot. He could faintly hear the noises of Rose dragging a semi concious Doctor up the stairs. If she could get him here he could carry him the rest of the way.

She appeared struggling in the doorway, the Doctor was trying his best to help and keep quiet.

Then the door above opened and Pete squeezed the trigger. Harold Saxon leaned over the railings and looked down on the scene.

"Ha! I've got a little wasp or two in my jam jar!" he shouted happily.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> _And so I sent some men to fight and one came back at dead of night. Said, he'd seen my enemy. Said, he looked just like me. So I set out to cut my self and here I go... James Blunt_

He pointed something at Pete and let out a beam of light which hit the gun from Pete's hand. He frowned and shot again. A laser beam hit at Pete but didn't make contact.

He cursed and moved his attentions to Rose and the Doctor.

"Forget it!" she shouted up at him, "we're protected by a tribo-physical waveform macro-kinetic extrapolator! You wouldn't understand!"

"That's impossible!" he roared, "the TARDIS is dead! I saw it with my own eyes!" He pointed and shot at them. Rose covered the Doctor with her body. In truth, she really didn't know if the TARDIS was protecting him.

Pete rushed forward and grabbed the Doctor, hoisting him over his shoulder and supporting as much weight as he could.

Harold Saxon came down the stairs two at a time.

"You stupid ape!" he roared at Rose, "do you really think you can walk out of here under my very eyes? You don't even know who I am!"

Rose stood her ground staring up at this man who she could feel in every fibre of her being was wrong.

"And you don't even know who I am!" she called back, her voice trembling with rage.

Pete pulled the groaning Doctor over his shoulder and moved as quickly as he could to the exit. He had seen something in Rose that scared him, he didn't want to stick around and find out what would happen in her anger.

"I'm like him, you silly human being! I'm a Time Lord! You can't beat me, _you_ are in a no win situation. Even if you escape now, I'll find you. I'll hunt you down and I'll have you for myself, right in front of your precious Doctor!"

"You're so sure that I would allow it?" Harold Saxon let out a roar of laughter at her words.

"Oh you're better than Lucy. She was weak and mad. You, now you have a certain element of strength! How could he have abandoned you here with that measly human copy of himself?"

"You're speaking of the man I loved!" Rose said quietly.

"Loved? Well, that's such a silly thing! Such a weakness. Still, at least you had a few years together!" He moved to one of the desks and bent down picking up a large glass jar.

Inside the bubbling purple liquid floated a hand, a right hand.

"Shame, that," the Master laughed gently.

"You... you killed him?"

"Had to... it was the only way to bring the Doctor here..." Rose let out a roar of pain and anguish and fury. Her body exploded into a fiery glow of yellow light. Harold Saxon faltered as he saw this human take on something he wasn't familiar with.

She launched herself at him her eyes glowing, her one thought to tear him apart as he had torn her husband apart. He pointed his laser into the air and pressed a button.

"I'll be back!" he smiled as he disappeared.

Rose stood there panting as the light left her. She quickly sprung into action making her way to the exit. Harold Saxon might only have transported outside.

The Doctor was on the ground leant against the TARDIS doors and unconscious. Pete was still trying to regain his breath. She unlocked the door and together they pulled him in. The TARDIS hummed expectantly, waiting for instructions.

"Infirmary now!" she barked urgently. As they pulled him into the corridors Rose was relieved to find that it was the first door they came to. 

They put him onto a bed and Rose set the scanners to work.

"I'm just going to get us somewhere safe!" she said to Pete and ran back out to the console room putting them into the space vortex.

When she returned she read the scans and started the relevant equipment to treat his injuries.

"How do you know all this?" asked Pete in awe.

"I'm not sure... something to do with the TARDIS." She spent several moments cleaning his wounds.

"He's in a pretty poor state," she said turning to Pete.

"Would he be better in hospital?"

"No... there's nothing in hospital that could help him. He's put himself into a kind of panic hibernation. Something a Time Lord can do if his body is badly threatened. He should heal himself with rest and care from us."

"What should we do in the mean time?"

"We've got to get and get Mum and Tony. They're in danger... you heard him."

"What happened to him?"

"He had some kind of trans-portational device on that laser. He disappeared. There's nothing random about this though. He... he's been after the Doctor, said he was like him. He's a bad man, Dad. You better call Mum, tell her to pack a bag. Tell her our lives are in danger. All I know is to run... run for our lives."

Pete looked at her for a while and then nodded gently. He left the room taking his phone out. He stopped in the doorway and turned back.

"I've no signal..." She tossed him her own phone the one that this man had performed his jiggery and pokery on all those years ago and nodded.

"That one never fails."

 

The TARDIS landed gently outside the mansion and Rose ran in to collect the rest of her family.

Jackie stood in the living room arms folded, expression staunch.

"What the bleedin' 'ell is goin' on?" she demanded.

"Can't explain, we have to go now!" said Rose scooping up Tony who was sleeping on the sofa. As they left Jackie carried on with a tirade of complaint about being pulled out of bed at five o'clock in the morning and anything she else she could think of in her disgruntled mood.

When they got outside she stopped dead in her tracks.

"He's here, is he?"

"He's hurt, Mum."

"Yeah, well, your husband's dead Rose. Funny how he comes sniffing about the moment..."

"The man who has hurt the Doctor killed him and he's coming after all of us. We have to go, now! The TARDIS is the safest place in the universe, in all universes! Now shut up and get in!"

Jackie opened her mouth once or twice but looking at Rose's face she thought better of it and did as she was told.

Within minutes they were back in the vortex. Rose turned to her mother.

"Right, I can't explain anything right now, because I really don't know myself." Tony was fidgeting and crying. "Let's find somewhere comfortable for him and then I'll show you."

They walked down the corridors past the infirmary where Pete came out and pulled Jackie into a relieved hug. Rose saw a door she wasn't familiar with. She opened it and they found an exact replica of her Mum and Pete's bedroom inside complete with side door leading into a nursery room exactly like Tony's when he was smaller.

Jackie settled him in saying very little. Rose waited outside. As they walked back down the corridor Jackie looked worried.

"The TARDIS will let us know if he wakes," she reassured her. It was at this moment that Rose knew she was completely in charge of the TARDIS.


	5. Chapter 5

"What do you want me to do?" asked Jackie. Rose looked sideways at her.

"You can look after the Doctor, Mum. He's very bruised at the moment, but when he heals , and it will be very quick; I'm going to find it very hard to be around him..." Jackie nodded with understanding.

"I can do that. What's going on?"

"I'm really not sure... there's another Time Lord, a bad one. He... he... he killed John. it was to bring the Doctor here somehow. He wants to kill all of us."

"Killed John? I thought it was an accident!"

"So did I... But things never fitted together properly about what happened, did they?"

"How are you doing all this, Rose? I mean Pete said you're flying the TARDIS?"

"It isn't flying, Mum. I don't really know what happened. I will have to talk to the Doctor when he's conscious. In the meantime we'll have to settle somewhere to wait it out."

"Where can we go?"

"The TARDIS can take us through time and space. Anywhere we want to go." By now they had reached the infirmary. The Doctor lay as she had left him. Already the bruising and swelling was healing and the all too familiar face was recognisable. Jackie let out a little tearful gasp.

"Can you cope with this, Mum?" Rose asked worried.

"Yes. How can you of all people worry about how anyone else can cope with a situation like this?"

"Well... I seem to have a lot of mental support from the TARDIS, she's in my head." They stood and watched him for a while.

"Tony will be very confused," said Jackie.

"I'll ask the TARDIS to steer him clear. Don't worry, there'll be plenty here to occupy him. The TARDIS loves having children on-board."

"How do you know that?" asked Jackie, surprised. At that moment the Doctor coughed and Rose made for the door.

"I'll just go and see where Pete's got to, it's a bit of a culture shock, this place!"

"Yeah, I've only ever flown on it a couple of times and then I didn't really take it all in..."

"Travelled, not flown..." said Rose quietly and left. Jackie turned to the Doctor and lifted his head. She tilted a glass to his dry lips.

"Come on you, drink," she murmured. His eyes flickered open.

"Where's Rose?" he asked almost frantic. Jackie stared at him, her eyes brimming. He slipped back into unconsciousness before she could think of an answer.

Rose entered the console room to find Pete sitting on the pilot seat staring at the screen. He looked up at her as she entered.

"There's something coming up on here... keeps flashing." She walked over and pulled the screen round to face her.

"It's a trace on Harold Saxon. We can keep tabs on where he is."

"Where is he?"

"At the mansion... he isn't alone."

"What are we going to do, Rose?"

"I don't know... we have to wait for the Doctor to revive..." she paused, glaring at the dot on the screen, "I want to get him though, Pete. I want to tear him apart, destroy him. He's got John's hand."

"He what?"

"He must have taken it from his body after he blew him up."

"Jesus... that's where it got to. I thought..." He stopped short.

"That animals had had it? Well in a way... they did. I don't know what we're dealing with but we do need the Doctor."

"Can you deal with that, Rose?"

"I have to, besides, I think the Doctor's as innocent as John in all this. That's the trouble with him. Trouble follows him, he doesn't follow it." Pete contemplated what she said.

"I never thought of it like that."

"That's why John had it easier. You know, he must have left the radar or something."

"Not completely."

"No... I've gone over and over it in my head. Those five years of not having to always look behind him must have lulled him into a false sense of security. That's the only explanation I can think of. Why else would he have gone near it?"

"It was obvious what it was?"

"To him, it would have been!" Rose keyed in some data.

"What are you doing?"

"We need a place where we go to wait it out."

"Hiding?"

"Yeah... run and hide. Until he's recovered at least... not a lot else we can do."

"Where are we going to go, then?"

"I think I'll let the TARDIS decide. We're going Random." Rose flicked some switches and pushed a lever. The TARDIS moved in the Vortex and headed into a direction. They held on tightly, but there was no urgency in the journey and moments later they landed gently.

Rose flicked at the monitor. A familiar scene met her eyes.

"We're miles away in time and space."

"What's it called?" asked Pete looking at the view.

"A place called New Earth. He brought me here a long time ago..." Rose tried to push the memory away but it wouldn't let her.

_"Can I just say... travelling with you... I love it..."_

_"Me too..."_ She bit back the tears and shook herself. She wasn't going there. She had had many more happy memories with John.

"Rose!" Jackie's call came from the infirmary. Rose rushed down the corridor followed closely by Pete.

The Doctor was sat up trying weakly to get out of bed. His bruising was nearly gone and a keening pain seared through her.

"What are you trying to do?" she asked him gently.

"Rose... I must... I've got to... Dalek... Master... danger!" he muttered weakly.  
She bent down and looked into his eyes.

"Doctor... it's fine... we're in the TARDIS... we're safe." He looked into her eyes searching.

"Not Doctor... it's me... Rose... John!" She pulled back from him sharply. Jackie moved forward and helped him to lie back down. He fell back to sleep breathing rapidly. Rose listened to his heart beats. Both of them still there, if not a bit rapid.

"What did that mean?" said Pete from the doorway.

"I don't know... I don't know anything!" said Rose her voice breaking. Jackie put her arm around her.

"He sounded like John, Rose..."

"Of course he did! They were the same person once! He must be confused!" A tear escaped her.

"He said Daleks though, " said Pete. Jackie shot him a look.

"He couldn't know... he has had many run ins with them... his worst nightmare."

"What?" said Jackie sharply. The Doctor's eyes shot open. He looked directly at Rose, then his eyes wandered about as if he were looking for something. His eyes fixed on Rose again.

"What have you done?" he shouted. They all stared at him.

"You've taken her! She's not here! She's not here!" Rose moved forward swiftly and grabbed his shoulders.

"I'm not the enemy, Doctor, I'm here to help you." He calmed at her touch and his eyes softened.

"Such a clever girl, Rose Tyler," he whispered, "do you hate me?"

"Why would I hate you?"

"Left you... no choice... just left you."

"Wasn't so bad... I had a fantastic life until he was killed."

"So hard for you... poor Rose." He touched her cheek.

"I don't know why it happened. I thought it was an accident... until we found the TARDIS." His eyes blackened again slightly.

"You took her."

"I didn't get any choice."

"No... sorry... you never do."

"Do you know what's happened?"

"Yes... I'm weak though, Rose... I need to..." His eyes rolled slightly.

"It's okay... I'll be right here, you rest." As he fell back into sleep the TARDIS allowed the voice of Tony to be played through the speakers.

"Mummy! Mummy, where are you?" he called without distress. It took Rose way back, further than the face she was watching in front of her.

Jackie and Pete left to go and see to their son.

Rose sat down by him. His face was virtually clear. His breathing had evened out. She checked his stats. He was well on the way to recovery. He groaned and she picked up his right hand. Before she held it properly an image flashed into her head.

_They were walking round the garden and she took his hand._

_"I'll never let it go, you know?" he whispered._

_"I know... it's a gift," she smiled back._

_"You're not angry any more?"_

_"Never at you... can't quite forgive him..."_

_"Part of him is here... you get that, don't you?"_

_"Yeah, the best part..."_

She took his hand and let the tears pour silently. 


	6. Chapter 6

"Rose?" whispered Jackie. Rose jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Sorry, must have dozed off, what time is it?"

"It's three thirty. We just wanted to know if it was safe to go out. I mean we've been looking at the screen and it doesn't look as though anyone's here."

"It should be fine... there is a garden in the TARDIS, you know?"

"We haven't found it yet and Tony needs some fresh air."

"Don't wander off, " she heard herself say. How ironic. That's what he always used to say. 

Jackie placed down two steaming mugs of tea and left. Rose leaned over and picked one up. She glanced at the Doctor. His eyes were open and he was staring at her intently. She hesitated.

"Hello," he said quietly.

"Er, yeah...hello," she replied. A knot pulled tight in her throat. He sat up and picked up the other mug.

"Mmmm... Jackie Tyler tea, nothing like it!" he said not taking his eyes off her.

"Yeah, she always says it's the answer to everything!" She couldn't meet his eyes even though she could feel his boring into her. "Weell, not everything!"

"Rose..."

"If you had a broken leg, tea wouldn't do the job, would it?"

"Rose..." She stood up and paced.

"Or if you were blown up into smithereens, nice cup o' tea? No, don't think so!"

"Rose!" he said it louder and her eyes flicked up and registered with his.

"What Doctor? What can you possibly say to me now, after all this?" He put his tea down, leaned over and grabbed her hands.

"There is an awful lot to talk about, Rose, we do have things that need to be said."

"Oh, the irony! I didn't think things _needed_ saying!" Her lips curled as a pit of anger rose inside her.

"You've every right to be angry."

"No, I haven't, but I still am. You promised me a forever, not with you, with him. I couldn't even have that! And he was only killed so someone could bring you here!"

"Rose... you have to know something."

"What? Will it do any good? Will it make me accept what has happened?"

"I don't know."

"Then tell me, what do I need to know?" She snatched her hands away from him defiantly.

"There are things in my head that weren't there before. Memories I haven't lived."

"What? That doesn't even make sense! What memories?"

"The day you got married... It was in the gardens of the mansion. There were white roses everywhere. You wore an ivory satin dress. No veil, just a simple flower tiara on your head. Tony was sick. You made your own vows. You promised each other more than time and space..."

"Stop it! You can't do this!" she interrupted.

"I have it all up here." He tapped his head.

"What are you saying?"

"Rose, I have every single detail of your life with John inside my head. I have, or I feel like I have; lived his life." She stared at him hard, she didn't know how to react.

"I... I don't understand..." she whispered. He stood up and cupped her face in his hands.

"John is in here. He's joined me. Returned to me." Rose searched his face desperately trying to see if she could see her husband there. It was the same face, but it always had been.

"Explain that to me," she whispered, taking his hands away from her face but not letting them go.

"He's always had a connection with me... I mean we were the same man. When he died I was pulled into this Universe. Well, when that happened, his soul and mine got... reconnected. He's in here with me, merged... the same man."

Rose shook her head in disbelief.

"How can I possibly believe that?"

"I'm just telling you what I know!"

"Alright then if you are John as well, then what the hell do you think you were doing? You must have known what it was!"

"It was five years since I last saw anything to do with a Dalek. I couldn't believe it! Then Patricks and Stephens said that it picked up nothing on the scans... I had no reason not to believe them! It was so fascinating, after all that time; seeing something from my former existence. The stuff I used to have nightmares about. I remember leaning forward and then I was in the TARDIS screaming."

"It blew him up. His body was in tatters, " said Rose her eyes now fixed on him, "his hand was taken from his corpse."

"The Master has it."

"I know, he showed me. Is that his name?"

"That's the name he goes by."

"He did it then?"

"Yes, Patricks and Stephens must work for him, in fact it wouldn't surprise me if half of Torchwood was working for him." He was aware of her staring at him as if she was trying to grasp what he was saying but not quite getting it. He sighed.

"Rose, in all the time you've known me, you've witnessed some strange things regarding my life cycles. Is it so hard to believe that he wouldn't do that?" She didn't reply for a while.

"It feels like he's trapped inside you."

"You can interpret it how you like," he said shrugging, " I didn't ask for any of this."

"Okay, so you've got John inside you as if... what? As if you've lived his life?"

"Yeah, that's about it... got my own memories too."

"So you know everything about us?"

"Yep..."

"Tell me stuff only he would know."

"Okay. Well, we used to sneak out in the middle of the night and take a blanket up the hill. We would sit and watch the stars. We'd talk about where we'd been and what was different about this universe. Quite often we stayed there until the sun rose."

Tears were in Rose's eyes and she nodded slightly.

"Yeah... we did."

"We wanted children, but we were having difficulty conceiving. Something wasn't quite working. We were going to have tests done at Torchwood."

"That's right." He suddenly smiled cheekily at her.

"And you, Rose Tyler, you seduced me on the first night!"

"That's enough," she said quietly. His face dropped.

"I'm sorry, never been very tactful."

"No, neither of you." They stood in silence for a while.

"What are we going to do about Harold Saxon?"

"We have to stop him. I'm not sure how... we can't be away too long. He'll take over completely. Where are we?"

"New Earth, the TARDIS bought us here." He nodded.

"There's something else we need to discuss..."

"It just happened."

"Nothing like that just happens."

"She was virtually dead."

"Dormant, not dead."

"I didn't know what was happening!"

"Oh, I think you did!"

"Can't we reverse it?"

"No, it doesn't work like that. I don't even know if she's in tune with me at all. She's certainly not in my psyche, is she in yours?"

"Yes." He nodded, a jealous wave hitting him. He tried not to show it and changed the subject.

"I need to get some clothes on and then we can go up to the console room and see what's going on." He made for the door.

"Doctor?" He swung back round.

"We're not done yet, Rose. There is an awful lot to sort out on both sides. It would seem I have something of yours and you have something of mine. How we sort this comes in between. I think that's enough to be going on with, don't you?"


	7. Chapter 7

Rose sat in the infirmary for a while trying to digest what the Doctor had said. John was in there somewhere? How could that be? He had John and she had the TARDIS.

She stood up and wandered slowly down the corridor towards the wardrobe room, as if drawn. He was knotting his tie when she got there. He gazed at her solemnly and she let her eyes search his face properly for the first time. It was completely healed.

He said nothing, just let her study his features. His face softened.

"Rose I..." She jumped at his voice. Momentarily she had forgotten where they were.

"Sorry I..." he said, his eyes blinking hard.

"No, it wasn't your fault. That's what John taught me. You don't cause the trouble it just seems to find you..."

"Partly... yeah. But I am sorry for making that choice for you... I shouldn't have just..." But she interrupted him again.

"I'm not! I loved him... love him." Their eyes met again, then Jackie's voice echoed down the corridor.

"I'd better go and see what they've been up to..."

"Yeah," he nodded sadly and she was gone. 

He pulled on his spare brown jacket and the TARDIS gurgled at him.

"What?" he sharply replied out loud. She didn't answer him, not even a nudge. He sighed and left making his way to the console room to find out just how much of it she was now responsible for.

Pete was sat in the pilot's seat looking thoughtful. When the Doctor entered he looked up. His face dropped when he saw him.

"Pete... " the Doctor nodded grimly.

"Doctor," he replied. He was completely taken aback. He knew the Doctor from way back when they first had troubles with the Cybermen. But since then John had come. He had been family to them. He had been Pete's best friend. This man in front of him was John and yet he was a virtual stranger. 

A strong feeling of deja vu swept over him. Jackie had been Jackie but not Jackie all those years ago.

"Do you have a problem with me, Pete?" asked the Doctor.

"Oh, no sorry... it's just weird... John was my friend." The Doctor nodded sadly and started to study the console.

"We're going to have to go back and sort this, you know?" he said.

"How will we do that? How will we find him?" asked Pete, his Torchwood manner surfacing.

"I don't think it will be too hard to track him down. There seems to be some kind of link between me and him and... Rose." Pete looked at him in confusion.

"What _has_ happened to Rose?"

"I don't think it's anything new. Whatever it is it was there before... been dormant inside her. Grief and panic must have triggered it. She's always been like that, well, since you've known her anyway."

"I don't understand."

"Rose is no ordinary person, Pete, not since... well... not for a long time. Something happened and she changed. At the time I thought I had taken it away from her... I realised today how wrong I was." Pete looked puzzled.

"She isn't so much Rose any more. That's just a name she goes by. She's evolved from the Rose Tyler I first met."

"That doesn't sound good."

"It's neither good nor bad. We all change with time. It is sad to see your little ones grow, but it is a happy time too..." The Doctor had a far-off wistful look in his eye and Pete's mind wandered to his son.

It was at this point that the object of his thoughts scampered into the console room and launched himself into his arms. Tony grinned at his daddy then turned to the Doctor.

"John?" he asked.

"Hello Tony," he smiled.

"You okay, now?" The little boys eyebrows furrowed in worry.

"I'm fine," replied the Doctor.

"Can we go flying soon?" he smiled.

"To the stars and beyond..." he answered as Rose and Jackie came in. Jackie looked stunned.

"How did you know that?" she gasped. The Doctor shrugged.

"Sorry, but I can't lie to the boy... we had, have, a special bond and though I know Rose can't get her head around it, this young man sees me." Tony at this point jumped from Pete's to the Doctor's arms and stuck out his arms like an aeroplane.

"Fly me! Fly me!" he squealed and the Doctor obliged, swooping him into the air.

"Rose, what's going on?" asked Jackie.

"He says that he has John in him."

"No Rose, I am John and I am the Doctor. We... re-merged... if you like."

"Doctor-John!" shouted Tony in ecstasy, still flying high. Rose looked at Tony and she half wished that she could, as innocently, accept this man as easily. But the anger of her original abandonment, together with her singular love of her husband would not allow this. Tears moved from her eyes and the Doctor, seeing her distress, placed Tony gently back on the floor.

"Why don't you get your dad to see if he can find you an ice-lolly in the galley?" he said bending down to the little boy. Pete hoisted him up onto his shoulders and retreated with some haste.

"Rose?" He moved closer to her.

"Can you bring him out?" she whispered.

"It doesn't work like that. We're one person again."

"I... I... need..." she put out a hand and touched his left heart.

"Rose..." it was Jackie who spoke up this time, "remember all we've been through? Remember what we've had to learn? You more so, than me. Sometimes you have to learn to accept things for what they are, not what they ought to be." Rose was sobbing openly by now, her face in her hands. 

The Doctor moved into her and placed his hands gently on the tops of her arms. She leaned forward and rested her head on his chest. He moved his arms and wrapped them tightly around her as she fell into him gulping for air and sobbing against him.

Jackie sighed with some kind of relief as she locked eyes with the Doctor. They exchanged a look and then she left to find her husband and her son.

They remained like this for some time. Rose stopped crying and stayed there finding comfort in his embrace.

Finally she looked up at him and smiled weakly. He put his thumbs up to her cheeks and gently wiped away the remaining moisture. He returned her smile shyly.

"Friends?" he asked softly. She nodded and his smile grew a bit wider. He stood straighter and looked wistfully at the console.

"Well, it looks like regarding transport, you are the designated driver."

"What can we do about it?" she asked still standing close to him, her eyes studying his face.

"Not a lot at the moment. We haven't got time. We have to find the Master and quickly... you don't know what he's truly capable of!"

"The TARDIS will pick up his movements when we get back to Earth."

"Oh, well done, you put a page on him. That'll give us the upper hand... he'll only be relying on this..." he said tapping his temple.

"I didn't do anything. It must have been the TARDIS!"

"It wouldn't have been, Rose. You know who it was." She looked him straight in the eye almost with a challenge and then backed down.

"Can you explain that one to me, Doctor?"

"All in good time... we will have to work through it all. But we really have to get back now or it will be too late!"

Rose moved around the console quickly and deftly tapped in the coordinates. The Doctor followed her watching her every move with awe. The TARDIS instantly moved very smoothly into the Vortex.

"You guide her well," he murmured with something like reverence.

"I was well taught," she answered holding his eye, knowing what this meant to him.


	8. Chapter 8

Pete came back into the console room.

"Where are they?" asked Rose.

"They've discovered the entertainments room... you won't get them out of there for hours," he grinned. The doctor looked thoughtful.

"Pete, I need you to contact as many of your most trusted at Torchwood, Jake... Lauren... Olly...Georgio ...Lisa ...anyone else?"

"Miles?" suggested Pete, looking somewhat perplexed.

"No, not Miles... he was one of the ones that kidnapped me and took me to Cardiff!"

"How do you know all this information about my staff?" asked Pete. Rose just shook her head and turned to the Doctor.

"I'll go and tell Mum to stay put, explain that we are going to seal them in while we sort this out. I'll get the TARDIS to secure them and only allow us access." The Doctor nodded and Rose left them. Pete stared for a moment at the Doctor, then he opened Rose's phone and started making the calls.

Rose returned in moments and took her place by the console. As she prepared the ship for their journey she turned to the Doctor again.

"What's he looking for... the... Master?"

"Something he mustn't find. He is power mad... after the ultimate. A long time ago there was this key. Well, it was more of a sort of crystal cube. It meant supreme power to whomever possessed it. It was a very dangerous thing, Rose, and I split it into six pieces and scattered them around the universes." Rose stared at him thoughtfully.

"A key?"

"Yes... The Key to Time. Having it would give a person more power than the Skasis Paradigm."

"And you scattered the pieces?"

"Yes... he's found five of them."

"And he believes you have the sixth?"

"Yes."

"Do you?"

"I did have... I gave it to someone for safe keeping." Rose flicked a button. They were on their way to Torchwood, London. She continued to watch him, almost suspiciously, until the TARDIS landed with a gentle bump. This caused him to roll his eyes which made her grin very slightly.

The three walked down the ramp and the Doctor opened the doors and went through them. The Torchwood members that Pete had contacted were waiting and fully armed. The Doctor eyed the guns with distaste, but said nothing. The team stared at the Doctor with shock.

"Any news on Saxon?" asked Pete.

"No, lots of the team have gone though... don't know who to trust," said Jake nodding some recognition at the Doctor.

"We need to find him, and fast!" said the Doctor, then he turned to Rose.

"The TARDIS must be protected at all costs... you don't know what he's capable of if he gets inside her! Get her to deadlock herself... only allow the three of us access to her!" Rose nodded and turned to the TARDIS sending waves out to her. The Doctor watched her feeling so lost that it hurt him. Rose caught the look on his face and instinctively reached out and took his hand. As she did so the TARDIS linked with him. Relief spread through him and he looked at Rose, smiling. She could feel all he was feeling and more. Deep down inside him she could feel John. These two lost souls felt as if they had come home.

"I..." started the Doctor, but whatever he was going to say was lost as the sound of a helicopter overhead drowned out his voice.

"He's on the helipad!" said a voice through Jake's radio.

"You do not shoot to kill!" ordered the Doctor as they made their way to the lifts. He didn't let go of Rose's hand and she made no attempt to take her's back, much to his relief.

They got up to the roof to find a grinning Harold Saxon standing between two ape-like thugs.

"You're supposed to have died!" said the Doctor.

"Well, fooled you again then, didn't I, Theta?"

"That was pretty low, taking me like that! Forgot how to play it level? That much of a coward now?"

"Not me who's been running for the last eight hundred years or so!"

"What now then, Master?"

"Well, I get it all, don't I? The TARDIS, you, the universes... oh, and your little wolf here!"

"What?" said Rose and the Doctor as one. The Master looked at them, slightly perturbed.

"Are you bonded, Doctor? That was quick work! How did you, of all people, manage that? As memory serves, you always pussy-footed around the job in hand... really, you do surprise me!" Rose looked puzzled, but the Doctor didn't react.

"It ends now... you know that it won't work. If you possessed that kind of power you would destroy everything, all universes! I can't allow that!" The Master laughed heartily and nodded at the members of the team, who turned and redirected their guns at the Doctor, Rose and Pete.

"You're pathetic! Look after the stupid apes... they're the future! Don't mess with evolution... blah, blah, blah! They are your weakness, Doctor!"

"They are all I have left... all we have left... you boneless, blind man!"

"But, there's the thing, isn't it? I'm not a man... you are not a man. We are more like... Gods. That's where we should be. Idolised. All power. We are everything!"

"We are nothing without them!" 

"You are the blind one... we could have it all, you and I, the most powerful beings in the universes!"

"I don't want to own the universes! I just want to make sure all is fair amongst them wherever I can! You just want to turn all into utter destruction!"

"Doctor! Someone's trying to break into the TARDIS!" interrupted Rose. The Master's attention turned to her.

"Why waste your time on him? You could join with me, we could rule together! He's weak, can't even tell you how he feels! Fobs you off in a make-do universe with a poor imitation of himself!" The Doctor could feel Rose's anger rising, but she kept calm.

"You really think that I would go with you? You really think any part of me finds this at all attractive?" The Master chuckled.

"He's stalling for time," muttered the Doctor.

"In case you hadn't noticed... I own time! I don't need to stall for it!" snapped the Master.

"No one will get into her!" said Rose defiantly. The Master's eyes fixed on her again.

"She's so much the part, isn't she? Been doing a little research on this one, Doctor. Not quite the common-or-garden homo-sapien, is she? Perfect as a mate! Not sure about the breeding, but what a difference in genetic make-up compared to other females of the species! Lots of records on file here going way back... only one way she could have become this!" Rose looked puzzled and the Doctor made an angry move at the Master but was held back by the team. Rose sent waves of calm to him as the Master continued.

"And now I find myself trying to wage up whether I need the last piece, or whether I might have something even better! If a Timelord were to look into the heart of the TARDIS... if a Timelord were to take in the Space Time Continuum Vortex... I really would become a God!"

"That would be madness! You know it!"

"When did that ever stop me? Throw them into a cell... put them into together... tie them together. I'll deal with them later. We need Mr Tyler to help us with the TARDIS... he might be able to gain access." He turned to Rose and stroked her face.

"I'll be counting the time," he said as he leaned into her. The Doctor struggled, snarling at him. This only delighted the Master even more.

"And that's just the icing on the cake!" he chuckled.


	9. Chapter 9

They were strapped together back to back and sat on the floor. The lights were off but, a dim glow from outside the cell they were locked in; partially lit it up.

"You okay?" he asked quietly.

"I'm fine... Doctor, what are we going to do? We have to save Dad!" They struggled with their binds for a while but gave up when Rose yelped with the pain of the ties biting into her wrists.

"We'll just have to wait it out," he said.

"But... my family?"

"The TARDIS won't let anyone in. Pete is needed, he might get a bit roughed up, but it's us he wanted. If he intended to kill him he would want us to see."

"Well, that makes me feel a whole lot better!"

"Sorry, Rose... I haven't got my Sonic... we have to wait." They sat in silence for some time.

"What did he mean?" she burst out after a while.

"You're going to have to be more specific than that, Rose. I'm happy to answer your questions, but I can't read your mind!"

"Oh? I thought you could do exactly that!"

"Very funny... not without touch... and your permission of course!"

"What did he mean... well first, about us being bonded?"

"We aren't bonded, Rose, I haven't done anything behind your back. It'll just be a bit of residual from John. You might not have been bonded in my sense of it, but there was a definite bond."

"You think? Okay, he picked up on something between us... can you explain that?"

"Rose, you felt it... when you took my hand... my link with the TARDIS and with you... it was there! I felt her!"

"Yeah, I know. I don't think she really left you. I think she was upset with you."

"Really? Sulking?"

"Something like that, yeah. As for me, well I've always had a connection with her, more so since the games station. It just all came to the fore. What did he mean about having something better than the Key to Time?"

"He thinks if he looks into the heart of the TARDIS, absorbs the vortex, that he will become... a god."

"Will he?"

"If he actually got there, and given that the last time he got his hands on her he cannibilised her... I rather think that the decision is hers. You became the Bad Wolf... she decided that. Even though I removed the vortex from you... I couldn't remove the Wolf."

"And when Blon looked into it?" she suggested.

"Exactly... back to an egg. TARDIS's choice. Really, it would be a gamble. I wouldn't risk it if I were him. He would argue that a TARDIS isn't capable of bearing a grudge... you and I know different."

"So, he manoeuvred all of this to get that piece of the key? I don't understand, why here? Unless... oh! You gave it to John?"

"Sshhh... yes. I'm sorry... I thought it would be safe and he agreed. The Master ripped a hole in the universe to get here. That will be growing now... things could get worse."

"So he killed John to get you here?"

"He must have been disorientated by this universe... his trace to the piece left him and he decided to bring me here. He wheedled his way into Torchwood using a cheap trick. Basic hypnosis... easy stuff. When the time was right he planted that Dalek shell and sent John to certain death. He blew him up to bring me here. The impact sent a shock-wave right through the universes. It pulled me here for John... so he could return to me." He could feel Rose silently sobbing behind him.

"Sorry..."

"It's not your fault! God, you're so like him sometimes!"

"I am him," he said quietly. She didn't reply. He leant back and made contact with her head. She rested against him taking some small comfort in this gesture.

"Tell me, there was something mentioned about children... he said I wasn't suitable for breeding. You know John and I were trying for a baby, you told me that."

"Yes... you can't, Rose."

"Sorry?"

"Your whole genetic structure has altered... is still altering. You cannot conceive."

"How do you know?"

"Because John has read all your medical records at Torchwood and I have that information now."

"He knew?"

"No... no... he suspected something, but not to this extent."

"Tell me what you know."

"I need to run tests to be sure. But I suspect that you aren't like Jack, but very similar."

"Immortal!" she gasped.

"No... though I think your lifespan is extremely extended."

"So, I would have been stuck here anyway?"

"Yes... I didn't know... truly I didn't."

"I know, you made the decision for the best. It's just so sad... his life was wasted."

"Oh Rose, it wasn't a waste. Shortened... but never a waste. He was so very happy with you. I have it all up here. Perfect proof."

"The life you could never have?"

"Now I have five years of it in a way..." The silence between them felt more companionable as they both contemplated the implications of all this.

"What now? What happens to me now?" she blurted out.

"Weell... if we get out of this... you have the TARDIS. You have me."

"What?" she answered so softly it was more like a breath.

"We travel together."

"Just pick up where we left off?"

"No. Not at all... I couldn't expect that. But I couldn't leave you to live for hundreds of years alone."

"You left Jack."

"That was different. And I've made good about it. I was wrong to do that, I just followed my natural instincts."

"What about my family? I assume you will be going back to the other universe?"

"I have to... there shouldn't be Timelords here... it isn't part of the structure of Parallels."

"So, I'd have to leave them?"

"You don't have to... it would only ever be your choice."

"It's never easy with you, is it?"

"Welcome to my world!" They sat and pondered in silence again. Rose broke it again.

"This business with the TARDIS?"

"I was wondering when we would get around to that!"

"She wanted me to help you. I just followed her lead."

"She invited you to become her pilot, Rose. She entered your head and told you to reset the Primateur Bonding!"

"I sort of understand that now, but at the time, I didn't. I just did what I thought I had to!"

"TARDISes are created for six, maximum. Each pilot bonds with their TARDIS on different levels. I think the TARDIS panicked. When John died, parts of her read it as me, understandable, I suppose. She thought that her Timelord had died. She latched onto you because you were the closest thing."

"I'm close to a Timelord?"

"Rose, you are not a Timelord... nor a Lady of Time."

"I was joking!"

"Ssshh... someone's there!" Soft noises could be heard just outside their cell. They listened with bated breath.

"Keep calm," he whispered.

"I am!"

"Rose... I," but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the arrival of Jake, who slipped quietly into their cell and untied them.

"How come you didn't fall under the Master's spell?" whispered the Doctor as Jake handed him his Sonic Screwdriver.

"Dunno... think I slipped under his gaydar!" answered Jake with a wry grin.


	10. Chapter 10

Slowly and silently they made their way through the building towards the danger that waited for them.

"What's the plan?" asked Rose in a whisper.

"We've got to get him in the TARDIS... just him and us."

"Okay... how are we gonna do that?" she asked, stopping and looking at him as if he were mad.

"I'm sorry, Rose, but I think you are the key. You will have to let him believe that he has won you over. He has a thing about women who are turned on by power."

"But that's... I can't!"

"I could!"

"Jake! He is very interested in Rose right now, you have your own job to do!"

"He was quite interested in me last night!"

"I don't doubt that, but he has a use for her!"

"Doctor, I'm right here!"

"Just to get him inside... she'll take over from there!" Rose looked at him silently, her mouth setting into a thin line. He turned to Jake.

"You need to find a way of breaking the hypnotic trances they are in! A shock of some kind... electric current maybe. If all else fails, punch 'em!"

"Yes, Boss!" he saluted, sounding not unlike Mickey. Before they could say any more, they had reached their destination and Jake was pushed back.

"But hark! What light from yonder doorway am I sensing?" sneered the Master as they crouched down into their hiding space.

"What was that, Master?" asked one of his stooges.

"I sense that our clever little pair have escaped, I wonder how they managed that?" he sighed, shaking his head. Suddenly Rose stood and faced him.

"Seems your boyfriend was a bit jealous of me... can't imagine why!" She turned and pulled the Doctor to his feet as if he were still bound. The Master's eyes glowed with hope and mistrust.

"I must punish the naughty boy! Where is he?"

"No need... she disposed of him!" said the Doctor, looking at Rose with contempt.

"So, the Wolf has seen sense, then?" He nodded to one of the stooges, who took the Doctor's arm and moved him away from Rose. Another was sent in search of the proof that Jake was indeed dead. He didn't return.

"Rose! What in God's name are you doing?" shouted Pete from his place in the corner. 

Rose turned to him and walked right at him. "Shut up! Time I finished this masquerade once and for all! You are not my father! Get it? You never were!" she spat the words out making him cower back.

"Oh, joy! What a performance! I can hardly believe my ears!" The Master clapped the balls of his palms together, grinning wildly. 

Rose turned to him and walked up very close to him. "Well, he just filled me in on a few things. It would seem that I am something new, something with a lot of power!"

"Somehow, I thought you might be a harder nut to crack!"

"You mean you hoped... something in the name gives it away, don't you think? I'm a very bad girl! All I ever wanted was to travel through time and space in that fantastic flying machine! Now it turns out that I am the prime pilot! I have enough power of my own, but alas, not enough knowledge! Stupid sentimental Timelord!" She glared over to the Doctor as the Master stood beside her and gently stroked her cheek.

"My pretty... I'm not sure that I trust you entirely!" he sneered, looking at the Doctor in triumph.

"No? Well, that makes two of us! Surely it isn't about trust, it's about what we can give each other?" Rose stood right up to him her body rigid at his side as he pulled her to him.

"Nicely put!" he said letting his hands move over parts of her that he shouldn't. The Doctor felt all manner of emotions course over him. Fear, Anger. Jealousy. Hate. Lust? He checked himself and writhed against the grip he was held in inciting a punch that brought him to his senses.

"You can't!" he spat, struggling a bit more.

"Tell me your plan then, my vixen," said the Master walking around her still not quite trusting but getting sucked in by her charisma.

"You and me... in the TARDIS... leave old skinny boy here! We can get back to the proper universe and have some fun!"

"What of your husband? What of your family?"

"Them? Mere mortals... gone in a blink! What use have I for them, when I have you as a playmate?" The Master considered her words with a smile.

"We don't leave him here!"

"Fine... we kill him, then?"

"No... he wanted to keep me prisoner in the TARDIS once upon a time. It's only right that we return the favour! After I have weakened him considerably of course. Old trick of mine... give him all his years in one go!"

"Fine! I can live with that after all he's put me through!"

"You're beginning to sound believable." 

Rose didn't answer, just shrugged as if she couldn't care what he believed. They made their way to the TARDIS as Rose removed her key from its hiding place. "Just us!" she said nodding at the stooge with distaste. 

The Master also nodded, instructing him to allow the Doctor to walk into the TARDIS on his own. But, before he also entered, he grabbed Pete and escorted him inside.

"You're bringing him?" asked Rose, glaring at him as the TARDIS doors shut tight.

"Call it my insurance... in case you never really had this sudden change of heart!" said the Master with a sly smile. Pete yanked his arm out of the Master's grip and glared at him. He turned to Rose hardly concealing the hatred he was feeling for her.

"All I ask is that you let me and my family go!" The Master started to laugh, not noticing that the Doctor was standing tall the other side of the console and that Rose had taken her father's hand and squeezed it in reassurance.


	11. Chapter 11

Pete stared at Rose with renewed belief as the Master took his place beside the console standing at three points of a triangle created by them. Rose looked over Pete's shoulder and saw that they were stood right beside the entrance to the corridors.

She pushed him back and unsealed the doors. Before he could react she had pushed him to safety into the corridors and sealed the door again.

The Master merely smiled slowly at her over the console.

"I wasn't fooled for a moment. What surprises me is how much loyalty you pathetic people carry for him! Isn't he responsible for your husband?"

"He didn't murder him!" Rose spat back, breaking the triangle and moving beside the Doctor. His hand linked instinctively into her's.

"No... but he made him!" laughed the Master moving around the console towards them.

"I didn't know!" spat the Doctor as he guided Rose around the console away from the evil Timelord.

"So many mistakes! You destroyed our home, Doctor! And now you destroy her life?"

"He hasn't! He is my husband! You are the one who makes the mistakes!" shouted Rose, surprising herself with her own vehemence. The Doctor glanced sideways at her and squeezed her hand.

"Brainwashed! You think they are the same man?" The Master inched around the console again.

"They are," she breathed, finally realising that she now believed it.

"It can't happen as you wish," said the Doctor.

"Oh... and how do I wish it?" sneered the Master.

"You want to take the power of Time and Space itself and own it! But you can't! It owns us...it always will!"

"You have no idea! We are Lords of time, Doctor! We already own Time!" The Doctor looked at him sorrowfully and shook his head.

"I'm sorry... I'm so sorry," he said, moving towards the Master who took a step back.

"Oh no you don't! Don't you start that again!" Rose was aware of the sound of her mother's voice calling through the sealed corridor doors but could do nothing but look on at these two men's exchange.

"Wolf! I urge you to change your mind... join with me, I can show you power beyond your wildest dreams!" Rose smiled and walked around the console the other way towards him, shaking her head.

In panic the Master pulled out his laser screwdriver and pointed it at the console.

"I will have my way!" he shouted making Rose and the Doctor come to a halt a few feet either side of him.

"Don't look!" shouted the Doctor as tiny chasms of light began to appear from under the console beside the Master. He turned to the Doctor in bewilderment.

"But I didn't! What have you done?" he screamed.

"It isn't me... it never was... my TARDIS took on so much when our world was destroyed. She took on everything that had been spread between TARDISes... she _is_ the Time Vortex. Her will is absolute. You made a big mistake when you created that Paradox Machine out of her and the only reason she did nothing was because she knew the outcome! She sees all... all that has passed... all that will pass... and all that should pass. I have no power over her... she does as she wishes."

"But... that's impossible!" said the Master a look of terror etching his face as the console began to open in front of him. The Doctor ran around to Rose and pulled her into his arms as beams of light shot up and engulfed the now screaming Master.

A silence that was almost tangible followed as lights shot about the TARDIS and found Rose and the Doctor huddled together. A blue ray swept over them, reading them and then there was nothing bar a faint green glow emanating from the open part of the console.

The Doctor and Rose pulled apart and stared at each other panting. Slowly they approached the opening and looked inside.

Nestled down amongst a bedding of wires was a new born baby boy. He was naked and fast asleep.

"Tui viscus esurio," whispered a voice that echoed about the room. Rose stared open-mouthed at the Doctor as he picked up the tiny infant, tears beginning to fill his eyes.

"Like Blon?" she breathed. He nodded as he held the baby out to Rose.


	12. Chapter 12

Instinctively she took the tiny baby in her arms and held him to her. She gazed into the Doctor's eyes for a long moment knowing that there was far more to this.

Then everything started to happen all at once. As knocking and barging began on the outside doors, the security that Rose had placed on the corridor doors was lifted and Jackie, Pete and Tony came rushing in.

Jackie observed the couple with the infant in her daughter's arms. Pete went to sort out his staff.

"Rose?" she stuttered, her voice very low.

"It's alright Jackie... the danger has passed," said the Doctor straightening up and removing his jacket. He placed it over the baby and helped Rose to her feet.

"Where did that come from?" she asked finding her voice.

"He, Mum, he... he's... what is he, Doctor?" she turned to him in bewilderment.

"He is a new page... a fresh start... that is the decision that was made."

"But what was that voice?"

"That... that was time itself... she was speaking in Gallifreyan... I'm surprised you heard it!"

"What did it mean?" The Doctor looked at Rose as if sizing her up, looking for the right words.

"She looked to us for the solution... searched our deepest needs. She wanted to repay you for what you lost. She found in us one very important thing that we both desperately wanted."

"A... a baby?"

"Yes... a baby. She said "tui viscus esurio". It means roughly translated "your hearts desire". She has gifted us a child."

"But that was John!" said Jackie.

"Yes, " nodded the Doctor looking down at Rose.

"He is John... John is... him," Rose smiled up at him as new tears threatened. As if sensing it, the baby jumped and opened his eyes. He gazed up at her.

"Hello little one," she whispered as the tears began to skitter down her cheeks.

"I'm a grandmother? That's the solution to all this? Rose Marion Tyler... hand him over!" Jackie took the baby and wrapped him in the Doctor's jacket with careful efficiency.

"Nappies, baby grows and milk... is he the same as a proper baby?" she turned to the Doctor.

"Jackie... he is a proper baby!" replied the Doctor half laughing.

"Two hearts?" asked Rose softly.

"Oh yes!" he grinned proudly.

"A baby Timelord, then?"

"No, you have to earn that status! He's Gallifreyan... not sure if I want my son to be a Timelord... bloody old fashioned pomposity!" 

"Won't he turn out... bad?" asked Rose.

"Who knows? But I can confidently say I am sure with you raising him he has every chance of growing up good!"

"What is his name?"

"Ah... well... we have to give that some thought. Traditionally we had three names. The first would be your given name. In this case he is called Viscus Esurio. That was given to him. Then he would have a name given by his family. Later on he would choose a titled name."

"So we have to give him a name?"

"Yes... no rush... let's give it some thought."

"Didn't we decide on Jack if it were a boy?" smiled Rose as a memory triggered. 

"We did, didn't we?" he smiled thoughtfully.

"Jack John Tyler?" she moved to take the little boy back from her mother but Jackie looked decidedly uncomfortable.

"I think we need to go shopping now," she muttered as a large damp patch spread on the Doctor's pinstriped jacket.

*****************

Later on, the TARDIS now standing in the Tyler mansion garden; Rose sat on her bed in the TARDIS gazing into the cot. The Doctor peered through the door almost shyly.

"You okay?" he asked softly. She looked up at him.

"Yeah... just a shock really."

"Yes, if you had told me a month ago..."

"Don't!" Rose interrupted, her voice cracking. He sat down beside her.

"Rose, it's okay... you know what was left of him was like an empty vessel... no, that sounds wrong... just please understand... all that was important to you is here. We, neither one of us; was complete without the other. He felt it less because he was so very happy with you. As one being we are whole again."

"So, you are my husband?"

"Yes... I suppose I must be," he said quietly.

"Why do I feel so shy of you, then?" she said softly, eyes searching his face.

"You? I'm feeling like it's the first day of school!" Rose smiled cheekily, the tongue making it's first appearance in a long while.

"Like a virgin?" she grinned.

"Rose!"

"Are you blushing, Doctor?"

"I'm a Timelord... Timelords do not blush!" He stood up and stuffed his hands in his pockets and started to pace. Indeed, if one didn't know that Timelords don't blush, one would think he looked very pink.

Rose stood up and faced him, finding her courage.

"So, perhaps the best way to deal with the nerves is just to... go for it?"

"Rose! Really this is quite... I mean... what do you mean?"

"Unless, of course, you don't want to?" She was right in front of him by now, so close she was almost touching and he stilled like a rabbit caught in headlights.

"Oh... I want to," he said so quietly that it was barely audible. She kissed him gently at first, taking the initiative, knowing that she could wait lifetimes for him to do so...


	13. Chapter 13

Lying in each other's arms, listening to their new babies' soft breaths,, the two stared up at the ceiling, lost in their separate thoughts. Finally, Rose rolled onto her side, laying her chin onto his chest and looking up at him.

"About the TARDIS..." she started.

"It's okay, Rose, she's back in my head."

"That isn't quite the same, though, is it?"

"No, but it's a start." He smiled down at her as she let her fingers walk through the sparse hairs scattered across his chest.

"Does that mean we're bonded now?"

"No... our link is strong and we are... husband and wife." He smiled as he said this as if just he realised that he had something very precious. She grinned up at him, her tongue tipping the corner of her mouth nearly at his nipple.

"So will we? Bond, I mean?"

"You are so persistent! You know... I don't think it's such an impossibility any more," he said finally.

"How? When? What do we do?" She sat up slightly.

"See... you don't even know what's entailed and you're off again!"

"I just don't ever want to be left in the dark again!" she pouted putting her head back down on his chest. He bent down and kissed the top of her head.

"How could you be left in the dark when you are my light?"

"Oh, God! That's so cheesy!"

"Maybe so, but it's the truth. I love you, Rose. I should have told you a long time ago."

"You did... took the human in you to do it... but you did." She had raised her head again to say this and he smiled as she finished. She really understood that they were both him. "You changed the subject... bonding?"

"Yes... if you want... but you have to know, it is a locked commitment... no going back ever... we'll always be in each others heads. You will have to learn... to train your mind and how to open it. It will be hard work. You will also need to study some Gallifreyan history. That will be good for Jack anyway. We can talk about bonding when your training is finished."

"Sort of like a religious conversion? Honestly, Doctor, you're making it sound like you don't want us to!"

"Oh, Rose... you couldn't be more wrong. Three things in the world that I would call my "hearts' desires". One, that we could have our forever. Two, that we could have a child. And three, that I could own you completely, thoroughly and without consequence. You don't have any idea how much it would mean to me!" His eyes were swimming with emotions and Rose nodded, unable to find the words to match.

"Doctor, what happens now? I mean, we have a new born baby... I can't see that we can just take off without someone to take care of him."

"We have to go back."

"Why?"

"Because... it is the law of the parallels!"

"But, who made the law?"

"Well, the ancients... it's part of my heritage!"

"Umm..." bloody old fashioned pomposity " I think you called it!"

He stared hard at her. "I did, didn't I? What are you getting at, Rose?"

"Well, it seems to me that you're trying to adhere to a law that really means nothing now. I understand that the universes must be separate, but I don't understand why it matters which universe you knock around in!"

"Knock around! I do not... Rose, do you want us to stay here?"

"Why not? Mum could help with Jack... okay, I want her to be involved, need her to be! Really, how can you distinguish which universe needs you to defend it?"

"I'm not... well, I never thought..."

"Think about it... whole galaxies out there unchartered by you... different planets... different aliens! I mean for all we know the Time War may not have affected here at all!"

"There was never a Gallifrey here, Rose!"

"No, but there must have been something there instead! Wouldn't you like to find out?" He stared at her incredulously for a long moment.

"I... I would," he answered finally as a slow smile began to spread across his face.

"So... we stay?" she asked quietly. 

He looked at her with the grin frozen on his face. "Yes!" he squeaked finally as he committed himself.

"And the other universe?"

"Well, it does have Jack and a good well trained team... and Sarah Jane. I think they're well covered." Rose smiled and nodded.

"Now, we have to go and seal the rift... think your mother might be up for a bit of baby sitting?"

Rose wandered into the kitchen of the Tyler mansion to find Jackie cleaning her oven. "Mum?"

"What?" sniffed Jackie from the muffled depths. 

"I wanna speak to you... got something to say... ask."

"I'm busy, what do you want?"

"I don't want to talk to your bum, Mum!" Jackie pulled her head out of the oven and glared at her daughter.

"Go on then! Say it! Tell me you're off with your Doctor and you ain't even gonna look back!"

"We're staying."

"Twenty nine years... never mind... see ya, Mum... what?" she doubled back.

"We're staying in this universe. We don't want to leave... you."

"I thought you couldn't!"

"We changed the rules!"

"Really... but what about... I mean... Rose!" Jackie ran over to her daughter and hugged her despite the rubber gloves.

"Thing is, we have to go and seal the rift, and would you... I mean, he won't be any trouble... we won't be long, okay?"

Jackie sighed and nodded.

"Thanks, Mum!" said Rose, giving her a hug and rushing off to get Jack.

"And so it begineth!" muttered Jackie, peeling off her Marigold's.


	14. Epilogue

As it turned out, there was a minor ripple in the fabric of the walls of reality and the Doctor and the TARDIS worked together quickly sealing them up and leaving them in this alternate reality. Forever.

"Well... that was a bit..." she stopped and bit her lip. Their eyes met across the console.

"Boring?" he hazarded a finish to her sentence.

"Yeah. Is that very wrong? I wanted it to be more dangerous!"

"Very wrong... we're parents now... we have responsibilities!" he said in mock sternness, a small smile rippling his full mouth.

"Yeah, you're right," she said quietly. They stared at each other for a little longer and then their faces broke into simultaneous grins.

"Shall we?" he asked.

"We can be back in no time, right?"

"Course, back before we've even left!" She stared at him for a little longer, memories of miscalculations flashing through her head and then she sat down on the pilot's seat.

"You can drive!" she said, resting her legs on the console. He stepped over them and took to the controls almost self-consciously in front of her. He began to set coordinates that he hadn't used in an age.

"Rose?" he said, his voice cracking.

"Yes, Doctor?"

"This is all... I feel... I don't know how I feel... tell me!"

"Scared?"

"Yeah, and excited, like the bottom of my stomach is going to explode!"

"I used to get that all the time!" 

"You did?"

"Yeah... it's addictive!" She grinned, standing beside him and taking his hand atop of the handbrake. They pushed together and the TARDIS whipped excitedly into the vortex. It was moments before they reached their destination.

"Constellation of Kasterborous," he said quietly, moving the screen around so they could both look out onto the beautiful patterns of stars and planets that they were suspended amongst.

"Anything?" she whispered, her eyes flicking to his face as she heard his breath hitch.

"Something," he breathed quietly as he started to flick dials and knobs. They landed with a soft and uneven bump and the TARDIS was still, humming almost impatiently around them.

"Where are we?" she asked.

"We're in the exact coordinates where Gallifrey once stood in the other universe."

"It can't hurt to take a look?" she asked as they looked at the innocent landscape on the screen. He grabbed her hand tightly, his own trembling and together they headed down the ramp.

The doors opened wide as they got to them and he gasped as he looked out onto this unknown territory.

Rose was the first to move, guiding him out into the bright sunlight of the two suns.

"It looks like..." he stopped as he scanned the territory around him. They stared up into the burnt orange sky and at the snow covered purple mountains on the horizon. They were on top of a grass covered hill looking down into a valley. The grass was a deep red and beautiful white trunked trees grew amongst them. Silver leaves chimed on the branches in the gentle breeze. At the bottom of the valley there was what looked like some kind of settlement.

"Well?" asked Rose.

"No Citadel," he said blankly.

"There are people down there."

"Yes.. and there are Telepaths too. I can feel them."

"Is it safe?"

"I don't know. There's only one way to find out." They stood at the top of the hill looking down on the unknown and neither made a move.

"Look!" whispered Rose as a group of figures began to walk up the hill towards them. They could hear singing drifting up on the wind.

"It would be impolite not to meet them," she said pulling at his hand, but he pulled back firmly.

"Rose... ... help me, Rose!" he murmured, his eyes flashing with fear.

"I'm here... never gonna leave you. It will be alright!" Gradually they began to move down the hill towards the welcoming committee.

The singing grew louder as they neared them and stopped as they met up.

"Greetings, travellers, welcome, we have been waiting for your arrival," said a tall dark woman with flashing green eyes and a friendly smile.

"You are speaking in Gallifreyan?" asked the Doctor, his eyebrows knitting together and the shock evident in his voice. There was a ripple of murmurs that went through the group and some laughed.

"We speak Najapitah... it is the native language of both planets... there are some differences I think, we separated from your Gallifrey many thousands of years ago."

"This place is called Najapitah?"

"Yes... the ancient world. I am Orla. Please, come and join our festival... there is plenty of time to ask questions."

They began to walk down the hill towards the settlement. Rose looked at the people around her. They all wore simple loose fitting clothes made from what looked like silk and were of all different shades of colour. There were dark and fair, tall and short, skinny and large, male and female. Nothing distinguished them from any human but a tremendous sense of calm and wisdom.

As they entered the township the group of people walking with them began to grow and the singing began to start. Rose glanced at the Doctor but he was smiling as they walked along as if in a parade.

The houses were small and each had windows and doors wide open. There was a lovely sense of community here. Rose turned to the young man walking by her side.

"What's the festival for?" she asked him.

"For you... the two travellers, of course!" he answered, surprised.

"You knew we were coming?"

"You were destined to come for some time," he answered and began to join in the song.

They passed a group of children sat around on the red grass. The group stopped their singing and listened to the children's own song.

"Far and wide the story is told,  
Of a gentle warrior, her hair ablaze,  
Sing the song of our saviour,  
Without her wisdom and her courage.  
Worlds would be dead and universes gone.

Far and wide the story is told  
Of the brave and Noble,  
Without who no living thing,  
Would be here or there.  
We bless the DoctorDonna!"

Rose and the Doctor stared at each other open mouthed, but soon were moved along before they could pass comment. The young man smiled at Rose.

"Do they not have schools where you come from?" he asked in amusement. Rose made her way to the Doctor's side.

"Where are they taking us?" she asked him quietly.

"I have no idea!" He smiled happily at her.

"We are taking you to the House of Arts... we want to show you something... your arrival is no accident," said Orla as she led the way to a tiny building at the end of the street. She stopped and indicated that they should enter. The Doctor looked at Rose puzzled and then, taking her hand they went inside.

The room they entered was huge and the Doctor began to grin again as Rose gasped.

"Transdimensional..." he started to whisper but Orla interrupted him.

"We just call it "Allowance," we are not scientists here."

"I don't understand."

"This is like a temple... our driving factor is our love of the arts. We do not feel that because we are so very clever and so very talented that we are above everyone... all are equals here. Come and sit, we will explain."

The room was lined with beautiful paintings and sculptures. There were many cushions scattered around and it was here that all the people began to settle.

When everyone was still, Orla spoke again. "I am spokesperson today. I was chosen to speak if you arrived on this day. I consider myself honoured." She bowed her head and smiled as the gathering gently applauded her.

"Can you tell me what is going on then?"

"We have waited for you for many years Rose Tyler and... Doctor... that is your preference. I have many other names for you... John?"

"Doctor is fine," he said, taking Rose's hand and squeezing it very gently.

"In the years when our planet sat with your Gallifrey there was plenty shared, but as time grew we found that our beliefs differed. We chose the arts over your sciences. Things became difficult as Gallifrey looked down upon us. We came to an agreement and moved to a different dimension. It was always told that you would come and we would reunite... that our people would become as whole once again. Come and see!" She got up and led them over to a group of paintings on the wall that, indeed looked very old. The pictures depicted happy faces surrounding a blue rectangle and as they looked closer still, they could see a woman in clothing that was very different to the others and she stood by a tall man in a brown pin striped suit.

"That's us!" said Rose.

"Oh, yes!"

"You have been sent to us. Gallifrey was never meant to be lost and you and your child will call this home. Your child will have like-minds and biological equivalents here on Najapatah. In return you will show us the ways of our TardISes, for every home here is a growing life-form with untempered potential that we know makes them discontent at times."

"What do you mean biological equivalents?" Orla pulled his hands to her chest with an apologetic look at Rose and pressed them against her breastplate.

"We are the same," she smiled.

"Two hearts?"

"Yes... I am in my fifth regeneration... I am four hundred years old!" she smiled. The Doctor looked at Rose with tears in his eyes as the group stood and started to sing again.

"Welcome, Doctor and Wolf, welcome home," said Orla and she also joined in the song...

FIN


End file.
